Generic Cutesy Mom Bloghttps://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com
Thu, 14 Dec 2017 02:31:45 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/6e4b63f75ae5b918c2699dbb19bafcde?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngGeneric Cutesy Mom Bloghttps://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com
Two Months ♡https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/two-months-%e2%99%a1/
https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/two-months-%e2%99%a1/#respondThu, 04 Feb 2016 15:09:00 +0000http://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/?p=580]]>
Ceres is two months old today! She had her two month well checkup yesterday; she weighs 13 pounds & 1.2 ounces and is 23 inches long. That puts her in the 77th percentile for length and a whopping 95th percentile for weight. My baby is a little tank, and it shows. The doctor has no issues or concerns about her weight, though. Chubby babies = healthy babies. She usually eats about 4oz in one feeding, but when she wants to she can put away a full 9oz bottle in one go. The benefit to this is we can occasionally pump her full of 9oz right at bedtime and get a solid 4.5 hours of sleep. Usually though, she’s still not a great sleeper.

Overall, she’s still a very happy baby. She’s in size 1 diapers and 0-3 clothes. She’s happiest when she’s being held, which is fine with me – I love holding her. It’s just a little bit frustrating that she also primarily prefers to sleep being held. We’re working on it. When she’s happy, she has the most beautiful smile. She’s chatty and is usually cooing and making noises (although we’re still waiting for that laugh). When she gets into a fussy mood, nothing but being held will calm her down. She hates her car seat and tummy time, but really not much else. She even seems to love her bath time. If only she were just slightly better at sleeping through the night, she’d be the absolute perfect baby, but she’s pretty damn close.

At her doctor’s visit today, she also had her first round of vaccines today – Rotarix which vaccines against Rotavirus, as well as the DTaP, Hib, Hepatitis B, Polio and PCV13. She was a champ though – she cried just for a second when she was stuck, but was done crying before the doctor even put the bandaid on her. Now she’s a little fussy and has slept most of the day but otherwise she seems great! They had us stay a few minutes just to make sure she wasn’t going to have any weird reactions or whatever, but she’s absolutely fine and we’re very glad. (Although those bandaids in that picture on her poor chubby legs D:)

We’re expecting a bunch of new & fun things to come in the next month – giggles, rolling over and who knows what else is going to come!

– The sleepy smiles when she’s asleep and content. Especially when combined with the suckling motions that make me think she’s dreaming of dancing bottles.

– Deep, exasperated sighs, because being seven weeks old is so hard can you even imagine.

– When she’s being held by someone else and crying, crying, CRYING but then as soon as I take her and her head hits my chest she stops.

– That clean baby smell. Even the milky not-so-clean baby smell that sort of smells like macaroni and cheese, but in a good way.

– How every day she’s a new and different person. Sometimes I wake up after taking a nap without her, and when I go to reclaim her from her daddy or auntie or whoever had her, I feel like she’s grown a full inch.

Hey guys! I’ve got a craft tutorial type post today. I know it’s not the normal type post here, but it’s baby related, so I figured this was the right place for it. I’m going to show you how to make some DIY pacifier clips. They could also be used as ID badge holders or really for anything else you’d need to keep clipped onto you. It’s super easy and I hand sewed the entire thing, so no machine or anything required!

To start, what you’ll need is your fabric of choice, a clip (which I purchased here), a piece of ribbon measuring 5″, and a needle and thread. You can machine sew or use fabric glue if you prefer. Your fabric should be 3″ wide, and the length can vary, but mine is about 7″.

Step 1 is to fold and iron everything down to hide all of your raw edges. Turn up the two shorter ends just a fraction of an inch, and then turn in the two longer ends so that they meet in the middle. Press each step. Then fold it in half lengthwise – all of your raw edges should now be hidden inside.

Then add in a bit of ribbon. This is going to hold the actual pacifier. You can use a coordinating ribbon, a piece of elastic, another small loop of fabric, or if you’re super fancy you can forgo the loop and put a set of snaps on the end to wrap around the pacifier loop. I just folded a 5″ piece in half and tucked the ends into the fabric strip leaving the loop out. Pin that.

On the other end, you’re gonna add that clip. You can find these as “suspender clips” at most fabric stores, but those are metal with some rough edges and not fun colors. I recommend the plastic ones just for safety and whatnot. Just feed the fabric through the loop & fold over. Leave about half an inch and pin that into place as well.

I start on the ribbon end. Stick the needle into the very corner to hide the knot, and start whip stitching around the outer end. You don’t need to sew the folded in, but you CAN if you want to for aesthetic reasons. Make sure you have the ribbon secure when you sew over it – go back and forth a few times if you need to.

(If you don’t know how to whip stitch, check out this video from my fave, Lauren Fairweather.)
When you get to the clip end, you want to sew all the way around the “square” of the folded down fabric. This will help to secure the clip on extra securely. If you’re machine sewing, you can just do some back stitching and that will simplify the process.

And that’s that! once you finish stitching all the way around, you’re finished!

To attach, slid the pacifier onto the ribbon end, and then pull the clip through the loop of the ribbon. Pull the ribbon all the way snug, and it’ll hold in place! Then, attach the clip end to the baby’s shirt, a blanket, the straps of a carseat – basically anywhere you want!

My baby is going to be six weeks old tomorrow and I really don’t feel quite up to a full long blog post, but I do want to post something so:

-Ceres is getting somewhat better at sleeping on her own. Unfortunately, Chris has been working this terrible shift work where he is gone from basically noon-midnight. It’s less ideal. So we take turns keeping Ceres downstairs while the other gets a bit of sleep. Usually she will nap in her rocker, and she’ll sleep for most of the night in it as well. I find myself letting her sleep on me the last time she wakes up just so I can get one last hour of sleep (around 8-9 am) before starting the day. It’s working for us.

(Pictured is what she usually naps/sleeps in.

-I LOVE wearing her. I have an Infantino carrier and it is great when we’re out shopping and even better when I need to get things done and she won’t stop crying to be held. I just strap her on and go on my day. It’s so convenient. I actually can not recommend this thing enough. She stays nice and snug in there and usually falls asleep. It’s an actual godsend when we go out to eat because I can have both hands free to eat. Plus, as a bonus, she falls asleep and stays asleep in it about 90% of the time.

It should hold her up to 32 pounds (if I can hold her in it up to 32 pounds…) and can be work front facing, facing out and on the back.

-I know that a baby is not a fashion accessory, but we played dress up and had a photoshoot today. It made me so excited for when she’s old enough to dress in real outfits, to do her hair, to understand how stinking cute she is. I just can’t stop thinking about how much fun we’re going to have as she gets older. I can’t wait to braid her hair, to take her shopping, to play games with her and to teach her everything I know. This silly little outfit matching made me feel some things that I wasn’t expecting it to, honestly. Just the idea of her maybe loving the things I love (like my favorite Disney movie) is almost too much for me.

At six weeks, Ceres is a sweet, cuddly and clingy little girl. She loves looking at the lights in the room, and will remind you if they’re off. She’s a tank – I can’t believe how much she eats. She hates being dressed or undressed, so sometimes she wears pjs all day or sleeps in her clothes. Tummy time is not her favorite, but she’s good at it and can hold her head up and look around for minutes at a time.

I love her more and more every day and I can’t imagine our lives without her. She’s already a huge daddy’s girl- she gives him huge smiles when he gets home from work and often stops crying as soon as he picks her up, no food or rocking required. And I’m okay with that. How could I be anything less than 100% okay with anything that puts those smiles on the faces of my two favorite people?

]]>https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/14/six-weeks-to-infinity-beyond/feed/2genericcutesymomblog12546106_10156402795290007_303153720_o12562763_10156402795315007_631258391_o12544705_10156402797645007_1481378144_o12545837_10156402795110007_400677898_o12562802_10156402795225007_1966897697_o12557886_10156402795145007_1850930447_oOne Month!https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/one-month/
https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/one-month/#commentsMon, 04 Jan 2016 15:04:47 +0000http://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/?p=343]]>Everyone told me that time would just fly, and I believed them. I really did. I just didn’t expect it to fly by as quickly as it is! But, here it is- Ceres is one month old today! She’s just about 9 pounds, 7 ounces. I’m not sure how exact that is, because we weighed her on my postal scale, but she FEELS about nine and a half pounds. She’s also about 21.5 inches long. According to Dr. Internet, she’s just around the 35th percentile for both length and weight, so despite her chubby cheeks and double chin, she’s actually on the smaller side of average. But she’s gaining weight at a good rate, and she eats well so everything is good as far as we can tell! She won’t see a doctor again until 2 months, but I don’t have any concerns with her at all.

She’s growing out of most of her newborn sized clothes, so every time we put her in something we have to take a ton of pictures. Every time may be the last time she wears something I really love. Of course that also means she’s starting to fit into all of the 0-3 clothes that she hasn’t been in yet, so there’s a whole new wardrobe to photograph!

As far as her personality and so on- she’s generally a good-natured baby. When she gets fussy, she gets VERY fussy and is difficult to calm down, but for the most part she’s pleasant. We’re starting to get some real smiles from her, and she’s also starting to make eye contact which is really cool. Having my baby look up, lock eyes, and smile at me is definitely one of the greatest feelings ever. She stays up for longer stretches of time, sometimes staying awake for as long as 2ish hours. The only real “issue” is that she’s not great at sleeping at night. She naps great and sleeps during the day, but around midnight-4am is her awake time. We’re working on it. She also prefers to sleep while being held or laying on someone’s lap/chest. For now, I love having her sleep and nap on me, but eventually we’ll need to break the habit.

She eats about 3 ounces per feeding, which seems to be right on track for what she should be. She sleeps about 18 or so hours a day – just not when we want her to!

At 1 month, she’s just a great, healthy, happy baby & we couldn’t be happier with her.

]]>https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/one-month/feed/3IMG_7780genericcutesymomblogIMG_7780.JPGIMG_77871441216_10156364356260007_8666883971089658612_nCeres is TWO Weeks already!https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/ceres-is-two-weeks-already/
https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/ceres-is-two-weeks-already/#commentsFri, 18 Dec 2015 15:00:53 +0000http://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/?p=287]]>I absolutely can not believe that my baby girl has already been with us for two weeks. (It’s so weird to blog with her on my lap and not in my belly!) I feel like I am at the same time still surprised she’s real but also like she’s just been a part of our lives forever. She’s a very easy going baby, although she does prefer to sleep while held, which makes nights a little bit difficult. However Chris and I are really good at taking turns getting up and letting each other get some naps in during the day.

We’re REALLY lucky that time lined up the way it did and we’re getting 10 days of paternity leave plus ten days of holiday leave back to back. I know that most people aren’t lucky enough to get almost a full month of both parents being home, so I’m so grateful things worked out how they did. I’m also really lucky because we’re going to have help/houseguests almost immediately after he does go back – first my sister & dad and then his siblings & parents. By the time I’m truly “on my own” with her, we’ll almost be at two months old (WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL.), so I’m finger-crossing that she’ll be sleeping a little more consistently and all of that.

One of the coolest things is watching her face change. In just two weeks,
her brow and cheekbones are more pronounced and she’s starting to develop a tiny, little Cupid’s Bow. Even her little ears are growing. Plus, her eyes change color hourly.

As far as some frequently asked questions we get:Who does she look like? Right now, we both think she looks mostly like her daddy, but she has mommy’s nose and mommy’s double chin (because mom was a FAT baby). Her nose is exactly mine. Chris thinks she has parts of all of his siblings.
What color are her eyes/hair? Her eyes are still changing daily, varying from dark brown to hazel to grey blue – basically, we don’t know what color they are yet. Her hair was a dark blonde up until the last couple of days, but it’s lightening up.
How does she get along with Ampersand? They get along well! Amp is a great guard cat- she guarded me throughout my entire pregnancy, and now she’s doing a great job watching over the baby. She keeps a safe distance, but is protective.

Ceres & her guard cat, Ampersand.

Is she nursing well? She was. She was really really great at it. Unfortunately, mom was not. I struggled a lot with the constant-ness of it, with a lack of bodily autonomy, with not being able to share bonding with Chris… I had some issues. Plus, she was having some tummy issues that didn’t occur when we’d supplement with formula. So after about 5 days, we switched to formula completely, and our whole family unit is happier. If the question is “is she eating well?”.. YES. She’s a goddamn tank.

Overall, she’s a very smiley, happy baby. She’s pleasant most of the time, she loves being held and played with, and she sleeps decently, if not great. She’s very alert and loves looking at our Christmas Tree and other lights. She’s beautiful, and we love her.

Her two week check-up was today, too. Everything is great – she’s up to just about 21″ from the 20″ she was at birth, and she’s gained over a pound! This little chubster now weighs 8 lbs, 15 oz. Her weight gain is great, and neither we nor the doctors have any concerns at all!

Thanks for reading!

PS- As for how mom is doing.. I’m holding up pretty well. I haven’t really had a shot to do any real working out yet or anything, but I have done a decent bit of walking between shopping/ appointments/ nice weather. I also have made a bit of an attempt to stop eating for two, which has been moderately successful. I can button my pre-pregnancy jeans, but not comfortably wear them; I’m still rocking my Liz Lange’s, but with my normal belt.

Overall, besides being tired, I feel really good – although I do have to say my tiredness level is no where near what it was at the end of pregnancy.

]]>https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/ceres-is-two-weeks-already/feed/4genericcutesymomblog939394_10156307794870007_1455369780_o52d96bd1-ddba-4edf-a4a9-237621317985542aeeca-8e29-4228-a53d-c9509d64d1f2a99a8c03-5045-4f53-b410-46e30c6e23e512398872_10156309727140007_446796306_o.jpgWe Have a Baby!!https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/05/284/
https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/05/284/#commentsSat, 05 Dec 2015 11:29:54 +0000http://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/?p=284]]>For anyone who I’m not friends with on Facebook, Ceres Jane arrived yesterday, December 4th at 10:47 am- just squeaking past her due date.

I had a regular 39 week check up on 12/1, and my blood pressure was a little bit high, so they scheduled a non-stress test for 12/3, my due date. Went to the hospital for my 3:45 appointment and my blood pressure was still high, so I was sent to labor and delivery triage for monitoring. Once I got there, the l&d nurse didn’t think I should be there because I was only borderline high, but they kept me for some monitoring. Which ended up being about five hours. Finally around 9pm they decided to admit me to the l&d for an induction. Blood pressure was varying from 140ish to the occasional jump to 160. For reference, I usually sit around 125, and had for most of the pregnancy.

I started feeling mild contractions around 10:30pm without any pitocin or anything, but was hooked up to the pitocin around 11. After a long night of trying to sleep with increasingly painful contractions, after about an hour of mediocre sleep I finally requested an epidural at 8 am, and it was in by 8:30. Around about 9:30, we (husband, nurse, anesthesiologist and I) realized that it wasn’t kicking in, and it was probably placed incorrectly. I was able to walk without issue and could feel everything. The anesthesiologist removed it, and inserted a second one, but then, surprise! My water broke before he even left the room.

I IMMEDIATELY felt like I had to push and started yelling for the nurse who left with the anesthesiologist to come back. I ended up pushing through about 5(?) contractions and suddenly had a baby. I am told I screamed, and my throat was sore for a few hours.

The total time I was in l&d ended up being 15ish hours, but from the time my water broke, I had a baby within 20 minutes.

She was immediately placed on my chest for skin to skin contact, and even covered in goo and fluids, she was beautiful. Unfortunately she did not cry immediately, so she was taken from me after maybe 5 minutes. Once she started crying properly, she was given back slightly cleaner but still unbathed and she latched on to me immediately. Her instinct and intuition is perfect.

It’s now about 6:30 am on the 5th, and I have my sleeping baby on my chest, while her dad gets some much needed sleep. I don’t think either of us has gotten more than 5 hours total in the last two days, because neither of us want to let her out of our sight. We expect to be in the hospital until Sunday (tomorrow) afternoon which we are both very much looking forward to.

Overall, I just keep looking at her with awe because I can’t believe that I made this beautiful creature.

Thank you to everyone who read and commented on this blog for the last 20 or so weeks! I’ll definitely keep updating it, but I may take a few weeks off to adjust. Thanks for reading

It’s *officially* my due date! Still no BABY, but you know, there’s at least a light at the end of the tunnel at this point. Sort of. I kind of have this feeling I’m going to go crazy overdue, but I’m hoping that my intuition is wrong on this one.

Honestly, there isn’t much to say at this point. There’s a fully cooked baby inside of me, beating the crap out of my insides every time she moves. And I KEEP TELLING HER how much happier she’ll be once she comes out and has more room to move around and stuff, but she’s already a stubborn little jerk, so that’s promising. I suppose that’s what I get for calling her a parasite for the last, oh, ten freaking months. (WHY do they say pregnancy is 9 months? I’ve been pregnant for exactly 10 months now, and I still don’t have a baby to show for it. I was LIEEEED TO.)

Bump size: Still about 43.5″Movement: Every single move she makes is painful. No cute little flutters, no adorable kicks. Every move is like it’s intentionally trying to cause me pain.Cravings/Aversions: My sweet tooth, which has come and gone all pregnancy, is back again.Mood: At this point, I’m honestly feeling a little bit like I just have to give up. I have accepted my fate of being pregnant forever, and I’m prepared to live like that.Other Symptoms: I actually have NOT had as much pelvic pain this week. The worst of it has been the painful movements.

Also, I need it to be known that I attempted to smile in that picture. I tried.

Hopefully next time you see me here, there will be a baby! (please, please let there be a baby next time.)

]]>https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/03/its-my-due-date-still-no-baby/feed/4genericcutesymomblog12343322_10156265921220007_994276145_o12333222_10156265921290007_1603156612_o39 Weeks // Happy Thanksgiving!https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/26/39-weeks-happy-thanksgiving/
https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/26/39-weeks-happy-thanksgiving/#commentsThu, 26 Nov 2015 15:11:03 +0000http://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/?p=235]]>Well, I appreciate the HUGE outpouring of texts/facebook messages/etc wishing me well and sending me baby hopes this week, but as I sit here watching the Macy’s Parade drinking decaf coffee, Baby is still firmly holding on to her refusal to appear. So, according to theBump, I’m literally carrying around a full sized watermelon. A watermelon that is flexing and kicking, and also has fingernails that already need to be trimmed. (NOT that I can feel them, but the idea of that is honestly the scariest thing I’e read so far.) Also, she’s already preparing for her first poop. Isn’t pregnancy magical, y’all?

She’s also apparently the size of an American Shorthair, so when I have my cat curled on my belly, well that’s a visual.

Bump size: About 43.5″. I think I’ve consistently grown about half an inch every week for the last trimester.Movement: I honestly feel like she’s trying to climb out of me via my belly. Like, she’s trying to hatch from the egg of my stomach. Someone tell her there’s a better way.Cravings/Aversions: I’ve had actual, literal dreams about Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffees. Like, dreams of drinking an entire 30 oz at once.Mood: I’m actually a little mess miserable this week than I was last week. I think I’ve accepted my fate of staying pregnant for EVER.Other Symptoms: Same pelvic/back/etc pain. I HAVE had a few sporadic contractions but never more than 1-2 in the course of a few hours so I haven’t even gotten to the point where I’m worried about timing them yet.

I imagine this is actually a lot like what hatching an egg must feel like, because I just kind of am sitting around and waiting for something to happen. My next doctor’s appointment is early next week, just before my actual due date, so we’ll see what happens then! Maybe next week this’ll be a I HAD A BABY post

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

]]>https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/26/39-weeks-happy-thanksgiving/feed/5genericcutesymomblog12290596_10156245316330007_870853876_o.jpg12268579_10156245380360007_1817485155_oThirty Eight Weeks.https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/19/thirty-eight-weeks/
https://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/19/thirty-eight-weeks/#commentsThu, 19 Nov 2015 18:05:44 +0000http://genericcutesymomblog.wordpress.com/?p=213]]>Thirty eight weeks today and I honestly am at the point where I don’t even know what to say in this post. I’m just really over being pregnant at this point. I want to be holding my baby and enjoying having her here, and I really would love to not be in this miserable stage of late pregnancy that I’m in right now. I was pretty lucky to have a really easy pregnancy for 99% of the time- honestly I spent most of this time with very few complaints, and the ones that I did have were so minor. The last two or so weeks though… I’m ready for her to come out.

There aren’t even any real updates on any apps or baby websites anymore. They all just say things like “Your body is preparing to have the baby.” She’s done. She can come out and play now.

Bump size: Around 43″. I feel like I have my own
gravitational field at this point.Movement: Consistent, although she does seem to sleep more often, and she’s definitely out of room to do much moving around.Cravings/Aversions: Nothing really. I’ve actually been having a little bit of that third term nausea again, so that’s cool.Mood: *rage rage rage. cries. rages some more* That’s basically it.Other Symptoms: The pain in my pelvic bone/legs/lower back is pretty much unbearable. I can sit in a few positions, but walking and laying down both hurt.

So yeah, that’s pretty much it this week. It’d be awesome if the next post I make here is that I’ve had the baby. I’d REALLY like to have her out by Thanksgiving. So, if you’re like, the praying sort of person or whatever, it would be cool if you could put in a good word for me for this to be the last time I post a pregnancy update.